Playing in the sewing room yesterday

 I finished my Brenna Dresdon blocks and want to get the background cut today. They will be appliqued.

Shopping my stash, I am deciding between white on white, Grey low volume, or a variety of low volumes. They all really change the look.

I also have Fishy Business on the design wall while I make a few more blocks. My wall actually has a mix of four project WIPS: 

• Sydney Harbor Bridge with a paper sketch of the Opera House
• Cluck, Cluck, Bawk!
• My friend's row for our row swap project. She is calling her row quilt Farm Life

One chicken done, 5 more cut out, one still deciding which direction she should face.

I have been retreating as well. Here are some photos.

Making new sewing friends

I took a Featherweight Maintenance Class. We took out every screw, cleaned, oiled, and lube. It was so scary taking the tension pieces apart- yikes!

July Chookshed Challenge Number is...

 Hello Quilty Friends!  How have you been?  I have been soooo busy, but in great ways.

Let's get this post started with the Chookshed number draw for July.  Google random number is giving us 9?

My number 9 is Fishy Business.  I am super excited to get this baby done because I love it!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What is your number 9.  Feel free to link up your July goal as well as your progress on June.

How did I do on my June goal?  I did absolutely nothing.  Instead I worked on a new row quilt I started.  I am calling it "Summer in a Small Town".  Here are some photos.

Bake Shop

Church

Dress Shop

Quilt Shop

A House

June Chookshed goal link up!

 So what are your plans for the June Chookshed Challenge?  I have attached a linky party below to help you share.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

As part of a reading challenge I am doing this month, I am supposed to share yellow books that I enjoyed. 

Lemon Tart: not as great as the others on this list,  but still a great novel. It is a murder mystery.

The Help: an absolute favorite. The movie was great too. It is the stories of the help in the deep south where there are strong racial boundaries and unrest. The help love and nurture the children even more than the mothers do in some cases, but are treated so poorly.

James: a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the slave.

Strange Sally Diamond: I gave it 5 stars. It is about a girl who was kidnapped and held in captivity for many years, birthed two children during that time, and later escaped. The story is more about the lives of her offspring afterward.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus: about a teen girl with no arms. She is adopted. 

Same Kind of Different as Me: an excellent book club read! It is about a homeless man who used to pick cotton during slavery and an art dealer. Their worlds come together in an unsuspected way.

Carnegie's Maid: This one is historical fiction, my favorite genre.  I learned so much about the Carnegie Family. It also has a sweet love story, though fictional, between Carnegie and his mother's maid. 

Roadblock Leg 2

Roadblock Leg 3

June Chookshed Challenge number is...

 

Google Random generator came up with 5.  Looking over all of the numbers so far this year, only the odds are left.

What is my number 5?  It is Jewell of the Caribbean.  The goal is to get the setting blocks done, but I may change my mind on how I want to set it together.  We shall see.

I have a couple of retreats in June which will help so much.

How has your progress been for June?  I have attached a linky party below for May's progress.  You can link up May's progress and/or June's goal below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Canadian Chris Quilt in Progress, a finish, and my eye on a new project!

 Today is Memorial Day in the states.  Most government jobs are off, many people are decorating graves, while others are enjoying a three day weekend.  Me, I am having a splendid day at home alone, listening to a good book, and working on my Canadian Chris Quilt.  I honestly thought I wouldn't get much done on this project because it felt overwhelming.  Once I laid everything out and came up with a layout plan, I realized that this could maybe even become a top this month.

I chose to take the blocks Chris made and do a "row quilt" with them.  While this was not the original layout she had in mind, I am really liking it.

Chris has two of these quilts in progress.  Look at the rainbow one and this fun layout.

Her friend made it in browns.

Here is a flashback from last year when I visited Chris in Canada and sewed with her lovely friends.  Quilters are amazing people, all around the world.

I began by assessing the blocks that needed to be completed.  These red flowers were fused down.  I added the machine blanket stitch around them.  The center orange peel block was fused to freezer paper with the edges turned.  I removed the paper and then hand stitched the white petals down.  I also removed freezer paper from a few blocks that Chris had machine stitched down.

Two blocks have been prepped for needle turn applique'.  This one currently has freezer paper underneath.

This one was prepared in a different way for needle turn applique'.  It was pinned onto the white block with the pattern drawn on the front.  I have been hand appliqueing it using the drawn line to know where to turn it.  It is coming along well.

Chris had nearly finished the stitching on this gorgeous block.  

Here are some photos to show where I need to finish.

Because the embroidery is close to the edge, I have begun to sew it to other blocks in order to give a little more space to fit the hoop.

After blanket stitching the flower blocks, I attached them to this block made by Chris.  This increased the size to fit the other blocks in the row.

I have assembled these three rows together.  They perfectly came out the same length.

This block needs to be assembled. I will do it with y seams once I figure out the size to cut the corner squares and the triangles. 

I am not sure what the pieces to this block were supposed to make, but I cut out the four corner white squares and formed this block from the units Chris had made.

Honestly, Chris has put much more work into this quilt than I will.

On another note, I have a finish!  Well, it is finished, but I may add some zipper pockets to the white side.  This is my first ever attempt at a jacket.  I do not sew clothes, and this was particularly hard for me because I attempted to make it reversible - NEVER AGAIN.  It was a beast, but I learned a ton.  Not a bad project made from free fabric.

Pink side

White side

As a reminder, this is a practice run for a pieced one I want to make to wear to quilt retreats.  Here are some  photos of a jelly roll I won that I plan to make my "real" quilt jacket out of.

I have been looking online for pattern ideas. I like these two.